10th Feb 2008, 16:47

Hi, bought my punto w reg. the other day, found whilst driving home that the steering alignment is quite badly out and the accelerator decides 2work on its own with no help : (. I hope its just the cable getting stuck open, but fear for the worst!!

Oh ye and its cold 2night and tried 2start my car 2find out that it didn't wanna play ball lol wish me luck!!!

6th Apr 2008, 13:47

Hi; I have a Fiat Punto ELX 2000 and have had it from year 2000. Unfortunately, I've been having problems from the warranty period to date. Don't buy FIAT! First of all the trouble: I had to change the steering, computer motherboard, a gasket, electric windows(2 times, both passenger side and driver side).

Next, it seemed nothing was good: petrol pump, radiator, the suspension, and now the steerring is not functioning again. And the cherry to top off the cake, I also had problems with rust. It seems as if I have replaced nearly all the parts of my car... disgraceful.

25th Aug 2008, 15:42

Hi, the gear linkage cable on my Fiat Punto 1.2, which is 3 years old and has done just 15000 miles, has snapped and as I am 1 month out of warranty will cost £260 to fix. Is this a common problem??!! I had only just had it service costing £280 and it has already had a new gearbox after 10000 miles what next???!!!

4th Jun 2009, 15:15

11th Jul 2009, 14:16

Well what can I say about these reviews. Let me start by saying I've been in the motor trade all my life. Since the mid 70s. I bought my first old rusty Fiat 124, then yes the window winders never worked, yes it was rusty, but the thing that impressed me was how bullet proof the then high performance engineering was. Hence I've always had a soft spot for the old Fiat as a car.

Recently I had a Fiat Tempra 1.9tds. It had covered over 600.000 miles, yes six hundred thousand miles, and the engine had never been touched apart from servicing. What I'm getting at is I know the Punto models. And for a small budget hatchback they are very good. Remember I'm working on cars everyday of the week, so believe me you could all do worse, like buy a Corsa or any of the small Ford range.

Everyone runs down Fiat's build quality, yet the interior of my Tempra was still sound. Nothing had fallen off. The digital dash still worked etc. Yet everyone keeps on about high efficient german engineering. Let me tell you I see all the Volkswagens, Audis, BMWs etc with all the electrical problems, worn seats and door handle switches and the like falling off. So c'mon folks, the little Punto is one of the best value for money runarounds out there.

13th Aug 2009, 12:10

I have a Fiat Punto 1.9 JTD is now just coming up for 10 yrs old and 140,000 miles. It returns 60mpg average, only fault ever has been it needed a new clutch. Great little car. With these cars you can get a bad one or a real cracking one.

20th Aug 2009, 03:28

Bought a 1.2 8V for my son just over a year ago. It's got about 40,000 miles on it. Had the wiper mechanism replaced, new clutch, cam belt, and now O2 sensor. Apart from the wiper mechanism all the above parts are wear and tear.

I agree with the mechanic who posted earlier, most other cars have similar problems, and are more expensive. I know this as I help my mate out in his garage.

16th Jul 2010, 15:07

I bought my Fiat Punto 1.2 year 2000 just over 10 months ago. I have had a clutch replaced and that's all. It's a really nice steady car. I love the handling, and it's a pleasure to drive.

About 4 months ago, a car pulled out in front of me on my right of way. I quickly swerved due not having enough stopping time. I think without turning that street button on (which increases steering sensitivity) through curiosity, there would have been a big accident. THANK GOD FOR FIATS STREET MODE, I have all faith in the Fiat Punto.

22nd Sep 2010, 17:46

My missus has a 2004 1.2 8v. She bought it off her step dad, who bought it from new. It's been serviced every 6 months, and has covered 43k in that time.

The "common" exhaust fell off (seems ritual to me), it's had a new clutch at 25k (shocking), gear linkage at 30k, and now the gearbox has failed.

There's been a lot of minor work done to it, which you would expect, however the clutch and gearbox just shows the poor build quality.

As for the "mechanic's comments"; Alfa Romeo and Fiat have a poor reputation for a very good reason. I would never touch a Vauxhall, but as for Ford v Fiat, sorry but Ford wins every time. Look at their reliability record and production numbers.

As for myself, I drive a 92 Honda Prelude (18 years old), and that's still on the original clutch and gearbox... now that is build quality for you. If you want reliability, buy a HONDA.

16th Nov 2011, 05:03

I bought my Fiat Punto in May 2009 with 45,000 miles on the clock, and since then have had the wiper linkage fail, which was fixed with duct tape (quite effective and cheap), then the exhaust fell off, then intermittent power steering; was waiting for it to fail completely before changing the motor, as it sounded like a quick cheap fix, but didn't get that far, as I have just been towed home by the RAC, as my clutch failed in rush hour traffic. Not sure I'm going to bother fixing it, but would be keen to find out what anyone else paid to fix theirs?

14th Apr 2012, 06:59

Bought my first and last Punto in August, had it three days, and the steering, clutch and flywheel went, costing me a hell of a lot of money.

The next month, the bonnet catch, wiper linkage, rear shocks and front wheel arm all needed replacing. Luckily for me, got all this from a scrappies; still cost a fortune though.

Took it for its BFG test (MOT), and it failed on so many different things, that I thought he was joking; guess what, wiper linkage again, ball joint again, rear brake, and they cannot do an emissions test, as the car will not steadily rev between 2 and 3 thousand; think there is problem with the carb.

I am now stuck with the decision of whether to scrap the thing, or put more and more money into it to get a little back, and give it to some other poor unfortunate soul that didn't do his home work, just like me. Not good!!!